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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22671601">Days of Fire</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarahLynnB/pseuds/SarahLynnB'>SarahLynnB</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Magnificent Seven (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Hurt/Comfort</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 17:20:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,785</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22671601</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarahLynnB/pseuds/SarahLynnB</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A heat wave in Four Corners makes everyone miserable, and puts JD in danger when he runs afoul of a gang of gunslingers in the desert. Casey races against the brutal sun and time to save him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>JD Dunne/Casey Wells</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Days of Fire</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><br/>
Casey Wells sighed and shifted her body lazily in the hammock she was sharing with JD. It was late afternoon, a hot day, the latest in a string of hot
days, and Casey sleepily pulled her summer shift away from her skin and thought how nice it would be when the weather cooled down again.

</p><p>
  JD stirred next to her, and Casey turned her head to look at him. He was
  asleep, his shiny black hair falling carelessly over his pale face, which
  was a little flushed in the lingering heat. His hat, jacket, and vest sat
  in a heap some distance away, discarded as soon as JD had arrived at Nettie's
  early that morning to help her with some repairs. They had worked until it
  became too hot to bear; then they had all retired to the coolness of the
  house, and when the sun started its downward journey Casey asked if it would
  be all right if they went out and sat in the hammock. She knew Nettie trusted
  JD, and anyway it was way too hot to even think about mischief. So, they
  had gotten into the hammock - after a series of frustrating attempts that
  spilled one or both of them to the ground more than once - and dozed off
  the afternoon's heat.
  </p><p>
  And now the sun was setting. Casey licked her lips, looked toward the barn
  where JD's horse was stabled. The air was still, heavy with summer's perfumes,
  and Casey stretched luxuriantly and sighed. Young as she was, Casey realized
  there were things going on in that moment she didn't understand, but loved,
  like the feeling of JD's body pressing next to hers, or how she felt when
  she looked at his face, his lips, those black-lashed eyes that stood out
  in such contrast from his ivory skin. Casey lay in the hammock for a long
  time, just studying JD's quiet face, lightly stroking the hair out of his
  eyes, and thinking her thoughts as the sun turned from yellow to amber to
  a soft violet and the wind whispered through the summer trees.
  </p><p>
  Casey didn't know she'd dozed off again until she heard the door open, not
  loudly but loud enough to wake her up. Starting, she pulled her eyes open
  and saw her Aunt Nettie standing on the porch, a freshly filled canteen in
  her hand.
  </p><p>
  Aunt Nettie smiled and stepped close to the hammock. "Casey, it's time to
  wake Mr. Dunne up, if he's going to make it back to town before nightfall."
  </p><p>
  "Mm-hmm." Casey nodded blearily, looking down once again at JD, who still
  hadn't stirred. Gently she put her hand on his shoulder and shook him. "JD?"
  </p><p>
  "Hm." JD mumbled, then blinked open his hazel eyes. "Hm, what?"
  </p><p>
  "Sun's going down." Casey said quietly, "Time to go."
  </p><p>
  "Oh - " JD blinked wider, tried to sit up in the hammock. "Oh! Tarnation
  - "
  </p><p>
  Casey squealed as the hammock rocked to one side, and managed to land on
  her feet when it spilled her out.
  </p><p>
  JD was not so lucky, and was slung backwards as the hammock righted itself.
  He fell to the ground with a loud thud.
  </p><p>
  "You OK, son?" Nettie asked, trying to suppress a smile.
  </p><p>
  "Yeah." JD stood up and brushed himself off, then reached up and started
  rolling down his sleeves. "Huh, the sun really is going down - I better get
  going."
  </p><p>
  Casey went to the porch and picked up JD's belongings. As she brought them
  over, she noticed something gleaming on his jacket and said, "You put your
  star on."
  </p><p>
  "Oh - yeah." JD took his jacket and flipped over the left lapel to show off
  his most proud possession, his silver sheriff's badge. "Ain't it a beauty?
  I figured I 'd better have it on in case I run across any bandits on my way
  back."
  </p><p>
  "You mean like Rio Cortez?" Nettie asked lightly, handing JD the canteen
  and folding her arms.
  </p><p>
  JD nodded as he slipped his vest on. "He's around someplace, telegraph said
  so. Just want him to know if I run into him, I'm the law around here."
  </p><p>
  Smiling confidently, JD turned and walked to the stable, checking his guns
  as he went. Casey was right behind him and said, "Now, JD, you ain't gonna
  pick a fight with Cortez, are you? 'Cause I heard about him..."
  </p><p>
  "Oh, Casey," JD said in exasperation as they neared the barn, "You gotta
  stop worrying about me. I ain't gonna do nothin' without the other guys around,
  I ain't that stupid, but if he comes after me, I ain't gonna run."
  </p><p>
  "Well - " Casey watched JD pick up his saddle from the barn floor and begin
  cinching it onto his horse. She couldn't think of anything to say, so just
  watched him until he was finished.
  </p><p>
  After making sure everything was secure, JD looped the canteen over the saddle
  horn and turned around. He glanced up at Nettie, who was standing in the
  barn door, then down to Casey again. Giving her a smile and a shrug, he said
  shyly, "Well, see ya."
  </p><p>
  "See ya." Casey smiled back, suddenly aware of Nettie's gaze on the back
  of her neck. Her eyes flicked up to JD's, sending a whole heart's worth of
  adolescent longing, but she dropped her eyes again when she felt herself
  slipping into those hazel depths that met hers and answered, and simply stepped
  back so he could get his horse out of the stable.
  </p><p>
  "I'm mighty grateful to you, Mr. Dunne." Nettie said as JD guided his horse
  across the lawn to the main road that would lead back to Four Corners. "Tell
  everyone I said hello."
  </p><p>
  "I will." JD looked back, saw Casey standing next to her aunt on the lawn,
  the red rays of the setting sun casting a perfect halo in her auburn hair,
  and smiled unabashedly at the sight. He waved, Casey and Nettie waved back,
  and a few moments later he was gone into the hills.
  </p><p>
  "Supper's ready, Casey." Nettie said simply as she turned to go into the
  house.
  </p><p>
  "Yes, ma'am." Casey replied, and followed her aunt into the house. As she
  passed the hammock, Casey absently stroked her dress where the wrinkles from
  where JD had pressed against her were still crisp and warm, and felt a thrill
  of longing. And smiled.
  </p><p>
  Buck Wilmington hated everything.
  </p><p>
  Now this was a new thing, since normally the handsome gunslinger loved
  everything, the west, his friends, the ladies, life in general. But that
  was before the hot weather had come, and now Buck was sweaty and miserable
  and hated everything.
  </p><p>
  He tried hard not to, as he walked along the dusty boardwalk of Four Corners,
  a capped canteen of cool rainwater in his hand. He tried to smile at the
  people he saw, but it was too hot for many people to be about, so there weren't
  many opportunities for Buck to look for some fair damsel to lighten his mood.
  The streets were mostly deserted, dry and windblown and baked to a crisp
  by that damn desert sun. So Buck mopped his brow with his bandanna and sunk
  lower into his black mood.
  </p><p>
  Lifting up his hat to shake the sweat from his brown hair, Buck crossed the
  street to the large clapboard church that stood like a white-prowed ship
  among the humbler weatherbeaten dwellings around it. Josiah Sanchez had been
  fixing the church up, and it gleamed like a snow-capped mountain in the brutal
  sun. But Buck didn't really notice.
  </p><p>
  Rounding the side of the church, Buck came to the double cellar doors and
  lifted one, squinting his eyes to see better into the darkness below. After
  his eyes had adjusted a bit, he carefully maneuvered his way down the narrow
  steps to the blessed coolness of the church basement, and drank in the soft,
  relieving air.
  </p><p>
  It was dim in the basement, but that was good; Josiah and Nathan had set
  the room up for townsfolk who were being affected by the intensely hot weather,
  and Nathan had specifically asked that the room be kept as dark as possible,
  so the heat stricken could rest in the soothing quiet.
  </p><p>
  As his eyes adjusted further, Buck looked around and saw the arrangement
  of cots that had been set up; there were a few people reclining on them,
  including two pregnant women, who were being tended by their anxious husbands.
  A few other townspeople were down there as well, holding cold cloths to their
  foreheads and dozing in the cellar's cushioning air. Buck saw Nathan leaning
  over someone at the far end of the cellar, and wandered over.
  </p><p>
  "Hey, pard." He said wearily as Nathan straightened up, then started when
  he saw that the person Nathan had been leaning over was Ezra Standish, his
  dark green jacket crumpled next to the cot, his white ruffled shirt unbuttoned
  to the waist. He was apparently in the process of trying to rise, and Nathan
  still had one dark hand on the gambler's chest, pinning him down.
  </p><p>
  "Our newest patient." Nathan said in a slightly sarcastic tone as Buck
  approached. "I found him practically passed out in the saloon, still wearing
  that big heavy jacket. Had to practically drag him here."
  </p><p>
  "I'm fine." Ezra mumbled drowsily, and tried to get up, but in the dim light
  Buck could see that he was sweating profusely, and Nathan pushed him back
  down onto the cot with a grunt of impatience.
  </p><p>
  "Yeah, sure you're fine," Nathan groused as he took the canteen from Buck,
  "We'll see how fine you are when you start throwin' up all over that fancy
  jacket. Here, take a sip of this."
  </p><p>
  Ezra sat up a bit and did so, giving Nathan a dark glare. "Mr. Wilmington,
  will you please plead my case before this misguided individual? I know how
  to comport myself in this warm weather."
  </p><p>
  Buck shook his head earnestly, "I'm with the doc, Ezra. You look like hell."
  </p><p>
  "Thank you." Ezra sniped, and leaned back on the cot, closing his eyes.
  </p><p>
  Nathan sneaked a smile at Buck and said, "What do you want to wear that big
  ol' coat for, on a day like today?"
  </p><p>
  "A gentleman," Ezra tutored sleepily, "Does not go out in public half-naked."
  </p><p>
  "Glad I ain't a gentleman then." Buck said under his breath as he looked
  up to see Josiah approaching them through the cool gloom.
  </p><p>
  "Afternoon," The big preacher rumbled softly as he down at Ezra. "How's he
  doing?"
  </p><p>
  "He's down with the heat," Nathan said in an irked voice, "Even if he don't
  think so."
  </p><p>
  Ezra said something none of the other men could make out, then slipped into
  an uneasy doze.
  </p><p>
  Nathan shook his head as he tilted the canteen and dumped some water onto
  a cloth, looking up at Josiah as he did so. "How's everybody else?"
  </p><p>
  Josiah peered back over his shoulder. "Not too bad. Mrs. Patterson's still
  pretty dizzy, but she's gettin' some water, so she'll be fine."
  </p><p>
  "Good." Nathan pressed the cold cloth against Ezra's sweltering forehead
  and straightened up. "Sun'll be going down soon, so this is probably all
  we'll see today. I'm tellin' you, I'll be glad when this hot spell is done."
  </p><p>
  "You an' everyone in the territory." Buck grumbled as he took the canteen
  and drank from it. "Only one who don't seem to mind it is JD."
  </p><p>
  Josiah smiled. "His heart's wrapped around Casey Wells. Love conquers all,
  as the poet said. Even heat like this."
  </p><p>
  Buck gave his head a baleful shake as he passed the canteen to Josiah. "I
  got to have a talk with that boy. He's spendin' too much time with that girl."
  </p><p>
  "I thought you liked Miss Wells." Nathan said in mild alarm.
  </p><p>
  "I do," Buck said defensively, "Hell, I brought 'em together, didn't I? And
  nothin' would make me happier than to see those two little lovebirds nestin'
  together. Someday."
  </p><p>
  Nathan and Josiah grinned at each other.
  </p><p>
  "But JD don't realize that a man's got to enjoy his freedom before he gets
  hitched. That kid's way too young to sparkin' so serious. Ain't nothing wrong
  with gettin' your oats sowed before settlin' into domesticity."
  </p><p>
  "You told JD that?" Josiah asked incredulously.
  </p><p>
  "Tried to." Buck groused. "He lit out this mornin' before I got more than
  two words out. I told him we'd talk tonight, though. I got to get him
  straightened out before he goes and does something stupid."
  </p><p>
  "Like gets married?" Nathan asked with a grin, his dark eyes twinkling.
  </p><p>
  Buck took the canteen and gulped down another drink, and didn't reply.
  </p><p>
  I won't put the jacket on, JD decided as he studied the wide western sky
  over his head and prodded his mount along. It's still too hot.
  </p><p>
  Sighing, he wiped a light haze of sweat from his forehead and squinted at
  the horizon. The sun had just set, reluctantly he thought, and now the sky
  was a riot of reds and yellows, oranges and blues, as the last blazing rays
  caught off of the huge clouds that floated across the wide expanse. It was
  a brilliant sunset, like one out of a fairy tale, and JD smiled to himself
  and thought once again, this is why I came west.
  </p><p>
  Pulling his pocket watch out, JD checked the time and grimaced; it would
  be dark before he got home. Oh well, it wasn't like he had anything to rush
  home to. The recent hot weather had made everyone in Four Corners irritable
  and dull; even Buck was moving in slow-motion, sleeping most of the day,
  only a little livelier at night. Hm, probably they're up by now, JD thought,
  and Ezra's trying to interest someone in a game at the saloon. Poor Ezra,
  the hot spell has really hurt his business...
  </p><p>
  Puffing out his cheeks, JD picked his canteen out from behind him and took
  a swallow, grateful that Nettie had filled it for him before he left. Even
  with the sun down, it was still very warm, and JD could tell it wasn't going
  to cool off much before the sun rose again, and brought more heat. Too much
  heat. Did it ever get this hot back home?
  </p><p>
  Unexpectedly, Casey entered JD's thoughts, and he smiled to himself as he
  thought of how it felt, the two of them lying together in that hammock. How
  could he have ever thought she was just a child? She was a young woman, a
  young lady as Buck would say, and JD could feel it when they lay down together.
  Good Lord, he thought suddenly, and blushed for no other reason than the
  images that were rampaging through his mind. Damn Buck and his stories, JD
  thought, but the images continued, and he had to admit they were pleasant
  to reflect upon...
  </p><p>
  JD was still reflecting as he came to a low rise that marked the third-of-the-way
  point home. Straining his ears, JD picked up the sound of a group of men
  a short distance ahead of him, hidden by the short scrubby trees that dotted
  the landscape. At least two men, JD realized, and one of them was shouting
  and, it sounded like, kicking something. Frowning, JD pulled out one of his
  ivory-handled Colts and slowly trotted forward to where he could see.
  </p><p>
  It was a group of men, three of them, two on horseback. The third was standing
  on the ground next to a prostrate horse, screaming at it in Spanish and kicking
  at it with his steel-toed boots. The horse wasn't moving; it looked dead.
  </p><p>
  His eyes widening in alarm at the abuse, JD spurred his horse forward and
  said, "Hey, you! Stop that!"
  </p><p>
  The men all started, and JD found himself staring down five gun barrels.
  The man on the ground, a tall swarthy man with a black moustache, barked
  out, "Who the hell are you?"
  </p><p>
  "Leave that horse alone." JD answered, too upset at what he was seeing to
  be polite. Pulling up close, he dismounted and walked over to the animal,
  but it was clear the horse wasn't breathing; its tongue was lolling out of
  its mouth, which was smeared with white foam, and its eyes were rolled back
  in its head.
  </p><p>
  Shaking his head in anger, JD confronted the man in front of him, too irate
  to be frightened by the man's height, or his steely glare, or the large gun
  he held. "Don't you know how to take care of an animal? You've killed her."
  </p><p>
  The man looked JD up and down and scowled. "This worthless nag? Why should
  I waste water on a lazy brute who doesn't even have the good grace to die
  in town so's I don't have to walk?"
  </p><p>
  "Why, you - " JD stepped forward, but before he had a chance to say anything
  more the man whipped up his gun hand and hit JD full force on the side of
  his head. The youth tumbled into the sagebrush, unconscious.
  </p><p>
  The three men looked at him for a second, then one of them said, "Good shot,
  Rio. That ought to shut him up."
  </p><p>
  "Hmph." Rio stuffed his gun into his belt, regarding JD's still form with
  loathing. Then he cast one black eye on JD's horse, which was standing motionless
  a half-dozen yards away.
  </p><p>
  "Well, now here's a beautiful horse." Rio said appreciatively, approaching
  JD's horse cockily. "What do you think, Jake? Curt? Yes, he'll do just fine."
  </p><p>
  The other two men looked at each other and laughed as Rio took the horse's
  reins. The horse shied back, whinnying fretfully. Rio ignored it, and reaching
  to the saddle threw JD's jacket and hat into the brush.
  </p><p>
  "No money, damn." Rio breathed. The horse started pulling away harder, and
  Rio yanked on the reins angrily. "Stop that, or I'll give you what that one
  got." He jerked the reins toward where his other horse lay.
  </p><p>
  One of the other men looked to where JD's jacket had fallen and said, "Uh-oh,
  boss. Look at that."
  </p><p>
  "What?" Rio glared at the interruption.
  </p><p>
  "I said look." The man said, and pointed to where the jacket had fallen.
  The lapel was crumpled over, and JD's sheriff's star glittered in the fading
  light.
  </p><p>
  "So what," Rio growled as he tried to control JD's horse, which was dancing
  even more frantically, "He ain't the first lawman I killed. Damn, Jake, help
  me with this goddamn horse."
  </p><p>
  "Sure, boss." Jake dismounted and started to approach, but with a loud snort
  JD's horse reared back, slicing the reins out of Rio's hands. As the man
  gasped in pain, the horse jumped away and bolted, galloping through the brush
  and into the night.
  </p><p>
  "You goddamn son of a bitch!" Rio howled, and pulling out his gun fired a
  shot at the fleeing animal, then two.
  </p><p>
  "Don't waste your ammo, boss." Jake advised, turning back toward his own
  mount. "Come on, I'll take you on my saddle."
  </p><p>
  Rio grunted, cast a hateful glare toward JD's retreating horse, then nursing
  his sore hand walked to Jake's horse and waited for a hand up.
  </p><p>
  "What about him?" The other man said, pointing at JD, who was still unconscious,
  tangled in the bushes.
  </p><p>
  Rio looked at JD, shrugged. "Leave him. One less lawman to worry about."
  </p><p>
  "I don't know." Curt shook his head doubtfully. "I say we plug 'im. He'll
  get the law on us."
  </p><p>
  Rio laughed, studied the sky. "Come on, Curt. Gonna be another hot day tomorrow,
  and it's a long walk. How long do you think that little runt's gonna last
  once the sun comes up?"
  </p><p>
  Curt nodded in agreement, satisfied, and the three men rode away into the
  cooling darkness.
  </p><p>
  "Damn, it's hot."
  </p><p>
  Buck said these words for the tenth time as he sat with Ezra, Josiah, and
  Nathan in the saloon. The gambler had roused himself from the church cellar
  as soon as the sun went down, insisting he was fine. He did look better,
  so Nathan didn't argue. Despite the relative cool of the evening, the saloon
  was nearly empty, and the four men were playing poker and trying to ignore
  that the cards were sticking to their skin.
  </p><p>
  Ezra sighed and made a face. "Mr. Wilmington, first, it is four o' clock
  in the morning and it is not that warm, and second, if you do not start
  concentrating on the game I am going to have to ask you to leave."
  </p><p>
  Buck gave Ezra a sour look. "It is hot. And I don't care if you don't think
  so."
  </p><p>
  "Gentlemen." Josiah rumbled, raising his hands. "This warm weather has shortened
  all of our tempers. Let us have a little peace."
  </p><p>
  Buck frowned and wiped his forehead. He had to admit it wasn't really too
  warm anymore, even though yesterday's humidity had never gone away, so even
  though it was cooler it was still unpleasantly damp. Having shed the
  light-colored jacket he usually wore and rolled up his sleeves, Buck knew
  he was as comfortable as he could be, and probably a lot more comfortable
  than Ezra, who despite the clammy warmth of the night had ignored Nathan's
  advice was still wearing his gambler's jacket. But the hot weather had continued
  to dampen his usual rambunctious mood, and Buck felt he had to talk about
  something.
  </p><p>
  Josiah pulled out his pocket watch and checked it. "Dang, it is four o'clock.
  Shouldn't JD be back by now?"
  </p><p>
  "Aw, hell," Buck groused as he peeled his cards from one hand, then the other.
  "Prob'ly came home and went straight to bed. That's where I'd be if it weren't
  too hot to sleep."
  </p><p>
  "Or do anything else, for that matter." Ezra dead panned as he scanned his
  cards.
  </p><p>
  Josiah smiled, but he noticed Buck gave Ezra a dark look and thought, that's
  what he'd rather be doing, at that. And took a drink of whiskey. "Looks like
  you'll have to wait to give JD the benefits of your experiences, Buck."
  </p><p>
  "Hmph." Buck grunted as he put a card down, only to have it adhere to his
  hand.
  </p><p>
  Ezra eyed his companions in confusion. "Did I miss something?"
  </p><p>
  "Buck thinks JD and Miss Wells are gettin' too serious." Nathan commented
  around his cigar.
  </p><p>
  "Ah." Ezra said blankly. "And naturally, knowing all there is to know about
  such matters, you have seen fit to bestow your questionable wisdom on the
  boy?"
  </p><p>
  Buck glared at Ezra and scowled. "It ain't questionable. Done me a world
  of good."
  </p><p>
  "Say hello to your wife for me then." Ezra said in a low voice and put his
  eyes back on his cards.
  </p><p>
  Josiah glanced at Buck and saw thunderclouds forming, so attempted to change
  the subject, and asked, "Anybody seen Chris or Vin?"
  </p><p>
  "They're on watch." Buck said noncommittally to his cards. "Somethin' about
  a Mexican bandit on the loose. Reckon they want to jump him first."
  </p><p>
  "Hm." Josiah digested this and threw out a card. "I can't imagine anyone
  planning crime in weather like this."
  </p><p>
  "Chris can." Buck argued as he spread out his cards. "But then, that boy
  always did have a good imagination."
  </p><p>
  Chris Larabee stood on the top of the hill and watched the sun rise.
  </p><p>
  It was a gorgeous sunrise, full of color and promise, hinting only by the
  intensity of its yellows and reds that the day would be hot, heavy, and full
  of languid misery. Chris squinted at the dawning light, daring it almost,
  but he knew it was a futile challenge. The sun always won.
  </p><p>
  Next to him, Vin Tanner was looking through his spyglass at the horizon.
  Vin was not a large man, and he looked even more slight without his usual
  leather coat, which like everyone else's had been abandoned in the heat.
  Peering through the spyglass once more, Vin shook his head and lowered it
  in resignation.
  </p><p>
  "Nothin'." He said in his usual raspy voice. "When did we get that telegram
  from Yuma?"
  </p><p>
  "Day before yesterday." Chris answered.
  </p><p>
  "Hm. Well, if Cortez is headed this way, he's takin' his own sweet time about
  it." Vin turned tired eyes to Chris. "Heat'll be risin' soon. Reckon we ought
  to get back to town before it sets to cookin' us up."
  </p><p>
  Chris nodded, and the two men mounted their horses and headed back to Four
  Corners as the first rays of the sun touched the distant mountains.
  </p><p>
  With a grunt, JD woke up.
  </p><p>
  Ow, he thought as he tried to move. Ow, ow!
  </p><p>
  Moving seemed really painful, so JD stopped and thought. Oh yeah, the Mexican
  fellow and his two friends. He was kicking his horse, and then all of a sudden
  nothing.
  </p><p>
  Then JD thought: the Mexican fellow. Rio Cortez.
  </p><p>
  JD tried to move again, felt the same sharp sticks poking into them, and
  opened his eyes. How did I get stuck in these bushes? He thought, and despite
  their jabbing him managed to wrestle himself into a sitting position, and
  rubbed the side of his head. Ow, he thought again. Brushing his hair out
  of his eyes, JD blinked and looked around.
  </p><p>
  It was sunrise; he'd slept there the whole night. The dead horse was still
  nearby, attracting flies and giving off a powerful odor. Looking at the animal
  with a mixture of pity and nausea, JD worked his way out of the bushes and
  stood up.
  </p><p>
  Dang, he thought, my horse is gone. Cortez must have taken it. Taken it where?
  He realized that Cortez could have gone anywhere, but Nettie's was so
  close...what if he went there, and Casey and her aunt were in danger?
  </p><p>
  I've got to go for help, JD considered, but Four Corners was too far away,
  even on a mild day; on a day like today he'd never make it. JD cast another
  look at the dead animal and shuddered; what would that man do to Casey, if
  he got ahold of her?
  </p><p>
  JD saw his hat on the ground and scooped it up. He saw his jacket too, and
  detangled it from the bushes, but then thought: I'm not going to wear this,
  and I don't want to carry it around. Mentally marking the spot, he carefully
  lay the jacket back in the bushes, then had another thought and carefully
  removed his sheriff's badge from behind the lapel and tucked the metal star
  in his pants pocket. I'll pick the jacket up later, JD decided, and setting
  his hat on his head began the long walk back to Nettie's ranch, as fast as
  he could, with one eye on the steadily rising sun.
  </p><p>
  Four Corners sat still and languid as the sun climbed higher, baking the
  streets, glazing the buildings with a red-hot layer of fire. Nothing was
  moving; the whole town seemed in a daze, stunned by the intensity of the
  summer heat, content to yield to its pressure and lie quiet beneath its crushing
  force.
  </p><p>
  It was into this quiet that Rio Cortez rode.
  </p><p>
  "Look at this, Jake." He purred to the man seated behind him as he surveyed
  the dust blown streets. "This is perfect."
  </p><p>
  "Yeah, well, let me down." Jake requested. "Now that we're here I need a
  drink."
  </p><p>
  Rio chuckled and steered his horse toward the saloon. There was no one around
  the bright streets as the men dismounted; even the breeze seemed cowed by
  the heat.
  </p><p>
  "I got a thirst too." Curt admitted as he peered into the saloon. "How long
  we staying?"
  </p><p>
  "Long enough." Rio answered. "I need a new horse."
  </p><p>
  Jake and Curt nodded, then Jake said, "You s'pose that fella we ran into
  is the law here? It's close enough."
  </p><p>
  "Hm!" Rio responded brightly. "That would be lucky. We'll have to find out."
  </p><p>
  With that, the three men entered the saloon and started drinking.
  </p><p>
  JD sighed and wiped his forehead. Dang, he thought, it's really hot.
  </p><p>
  He peered up at the sun, now nearly directly overhead, and wiped his forehead
  again. He looked at the road, but the bright sunshine was reflecting off
  the sand, and his eyes were watering so badly he could hardly see. How far
  had he come?
  </p><p>
  Wish I had some water, JD thought wistfully, but it shouldn't be that far
  to Nettie's. Hope they're all right. Wait, I know that tree. Dang, that's
  all the farther I've come? Well, can't go back now...
  </p><p>
  The heat was oppressive, and made him dizzy and lightheaded, but the thought
  of Casey in danger spurred JD on, and he stumbled along the white-hot road
  with grim determination. Gingerly he touched his face; it felt hot, and he
  knew his skin was burning, and thought, damn. He couldn't decide if he should
  leave his hat on; it was hot with it on, but when he took it off he could
  feel the sun like a red-hot iron on the top of his head. So, the hat stayed
  on and JD sweated.
  </p><p>
  He came to a low rise and paused, breathing heavily in the hot air. Nothing,
  not even a rock for shade, and no water. JD was starting to feel dizzier,
  and hoped Nettie's wasn't as far away as he thought it was. I gotta get some
  water, he thought, and tried to remember if Vin ever told him about any streams
  around here. But thinking was getting difficult, it was so hot, and eventually
  JD decided to keep going, at least until he found some shelter from that
  damn awful sun. Some shelter, and then maybe a nap...
  </p><p>
  JD wiped his forehead again and moved on.
  </p><p>
  Casey finished up the last of the dishes and wiped her hands on the drying
  towel, then wiped them again on her shift. It was another hot day, oppressively
  hot,and she dreaded the long weary stretch of the afternoon with nothing
  to do.
  </p><p>
  She looked over at Nettie, who was putting away the dried dishes, and said,
  "Aunt Nettie, I'm going to lie down in the hammock."
  </p><p>
  Her aunt looked at her. "It's too hot to lay outside. Cooler in your room."
  </p><p>
  Casey nodded, disappointed; her aunt was right, but Casey liked lying in
  the hammock. It reminded her of JD -
  </p><p>
  Casey looked out toward the hammock and, for a split second, thought she
  saw JD's horse standing next to the hammock looking at her.
  </p><p>
  She blinked. Blinked again.
  </p><p>
  The horse was still there.
  </p><p>
  "Aunt Nettie..." Casey said in confusion, and a moment later she was outside,
  and the horse still stood there, its sides heaving in exhaustion, its look
  intent.
  </p><p>
  "There, there, girl," Casey said soothingly, approaching the animal with
  caution and petting her. She looked around for JD, but didn't see him. As
  she took the horse's bridle, Casey saw the foam at its mouth and said, "Aunt
  Nettie, this horse needs some water."
  </p><p>
  Nettie walked up, her eyes full of concern. "Where's Mr. Dunne?"
  </p><p>
  Casey started to walk the horse toward the stable, where the water trough
  was. "I don't know." She looked around and called, "JD? You playing a trick
  on me?"
  </p><p>
  Nettie followed her. "Awful hot day for a prank."
  </p><p>
  Casey eased the horse toward the trough, where it dipped its head and drank
  eagerly. She ran anxious eyes over the saddle, the rest of the gear. She
  spotted his canteen and her heart began to beat faster.
  </p><p>
  She grabbed it off the saddle and stared at it, then her eyes snapped to
  Nettie and she said, "I'm gonna look for him."
  </p><p>
  "You most certainly are not." Nettie said firmly as Casey walked around the
  horse. "It's the heat of the day. You'll be down with sunstroke in an hour."
  </p><p>
  Casey looked at her aunt piercingly. Then she looked at the horse, then the
  blazing sun. She gave her aunt a determined stare and said, "If it was me
  out there you'd go look."
  </p><p>
  Nettie paused, then leaned back and studied Casey with a smile. "You got
  your pa in you, that's for sure. Of all the things to inherit, you get his
  stubborn streak."
  </p><p>
  "Thank you." Casey said simply, and went inside to change her clothes.
  </p><p>
  After walking for awhile longer, JD decided he had to sit down.
  </p><p>
  Just for a minute, he thought as he flopped onto the hot sand. Just till
  the world stops spinning, and the pounding in my head goes away.
  </p><p>
  The sun was brutal, beating down on him as if he were the only thing in the
  world worth picking on. I need some shade, JD thought, but there wasn't any,
  scarcely even any bushes, and so his hat was the only thing between him and
  those searing rays.
  </p><p>
  JD gulped for air as he sat on ground, wincing at the cramps he'd been feeling
  for the last hour or so. They'd made it harder to walk, but the thought of
  Casey in danger made him willing to crawl there on his hands and knees, if
  he had to. All he needed was some water, and a little rest.
  </p><p>
  God, it's hot, JD thought, and almost laughed at the over simplicity of the
  statement. He could feel the heat baking into him, feel it settling on his
  cheeks, which felt like blazing fire , and the backs of his hands, which
  were now burned an angry red. Even breathing hurt, and he hated taking in
  that scorching air; it didn't seem to help, he still felt like he was
  suffocating, and the frightening image came through his mind of himself,
  one tiny little speck in the vast desert, slowly roasted by an indifferent
  sun, roasting, blazing, burning up...
  </p><p>
  JD shook his head; I'm getting delirious, he thought, and decided it was
  time to get up and get moving again.
  </p><p>
  Painfully JD heaved himself to his feet, wincing as the exertion flooded
  him with dizziness, but when he looked around he realized he was no longer
  on the road, but in the middle of a wide plain. Puzzled, he peered at the
  featureless sand around him, and took off his hat and scratched his head;
  how long had he been wandering off the main road? He didn't even notice...
  </p><p>
  A small swell of panic rose in him, and by sheer force of will JD pushed
  it back down again. So he was off the main road - it had to be around here
  somewhere, and as soon as the world stopped whirling around him he'd know
  which way to go. And then he'd find Nettie's ranch, Casey would be safe,
  and he could get some water...
  </p><p>
  But which way to go? They all looked the same in the baking hot sun, and
  as JD tried to figure it out his thoughts became jumbled, his mind numbed
  by the relentless, inescapable heat. JD looked about him blankly, but everything
  looked painfully bright and blurry, and the landscape was tilting weirdly.
  Heaving another breath into his protesting lungs, JD picked a direction and
  staggered into it, completely unaware as he stumbled through the blazing
  sunshine that he'd inadvertently let go of his hat, and left it in the white-hot
  dust.
  </p><p>
   
  </p><p>
  In the Four Corners saloon, Chris sat in the table farthest from the door
  head in his folded arms, trying to sleep.
  </p><p>
  He'd discovered that he was actually more comfortable sleeping sitting up
  than lying down, especially lately. Why this was he didn't know, and didn't
  particularly care; it made getting drunk much more convenient when he didn't
  have to worry about how he was going to get home to bed...
  </p><p>
  So now he was scowling at the three rowdy strangers who had come into the
  saloon two hours before. They had started off being not-so-loud drunks, but
  now they were just plain obnoxious drunks, and they were getting on his nerves.
  If only it wasn't so damn hot, he'd get up and clean 'em out. But it was
  too hot, so Chris just thunked his head back onto the table and tried to
  go to sleep.
  </p><p>
  He was just about there when he heard boots walking toward him. Go away,
  he thought, but the boots stopped close to him and he heard Buck's voice
  say, "Hey, Chris?"
  </p><p>
  "Go away, Buck." Chris muffled from his crossed arms.
  </p><p>
  "Chris, you seen JD anywheres?"
  </p><p>
  Chris lifted his head, gave his friend a bleary but menacing glare. "You
  think I keep him in my pocket? Go away, Buck, I'm trying to sleep."
  </p><p>
  Then he noticed that Buck wasn't curious; that was a genuine look of concern
  on his normally ebullient face as he answered, "I checked his room, and he
  ain't been in. I checked the stable, and he ain't been back."
  </p><p>
  Chris shrugged and put his head back down. "He's probably still at Nettie's.
  Give it a rest, Buck. it's too hot."
  </p><p>
  "Hm." Buck thought on this, and realizing Chris was going to be no further
  help he backed away from Chris' table. "Well, all right then."
  </p><p>
  Buck turned around and walked by the table where the three rowdy drunks were
  sitting. Giving them a cursory glance, he got to the saloon doors and passed
  Vin going in. "Hey, Vin."
  </p><p>
  Vin abruptly grabbed Buck and backed quickly out of the bar, so fast Buck's
  head spun. His grip was still tight on the gunslinger's arm as Buck laughed
  and said, "What the hell - "
  </p><p>
  "Sh!" Vin's voice was tight and low as he peered over the doors into the
  saloon. "That's Rio Cortez in there."
  </p><p>
  "What?" Buck blinked his surprise. "That Mexican guy?"
  </p><p>
  Vin nodded, sweat from the day's heat damping his curls to his forehead.
  "What's Chris doin' in there?"
  </p><p>
  "Tryin' to sleep." Buck said as he backed away and drew his gun.
  </p><p>
  Vin shook his head and pulled out his sawed-off Winchester. "Surely do hate
  to do this. The man's a bear when he don't get his rest."
  </p><p>
  "Or even when he does." Buck said lightly, and with that the two men reentered
  the bar.
  </p><p>
  Rio had just finished telling a dirty joke and was swaggering around the
  table laughing drunkenly when Vin and Buck walked up behind him, guns aimed
  steadily.
  </p><p>
  "Rio Cortez?" Vin asked softly.
  </p><p>
  Chris looked up from his table.
  </p><p>
  Rio turned around, glared at Vin's rifle. "Who are you?"
  </p><p>
  "You Rio Cortez?" Vin asked again.
  </p><p>
  "Maybe," the man shrugged, smiling boozily at Vin, then turned to his companions
  and reached for his whiskey bottle. "What do you care if I am?"
  </p><p>
  "Fraid I'll have to ask for your gun." Vin said in the same quiet tones,
  his eyes never moving from Rio's face. "Seems you're a wanted man."
  </p><p>
  The two men who were sitting looked uneasily at Vin's gun, but Rio just laughed
  again and took a swig from the whiskey bottle. "Just try it, pretty boy,
  and I'll cut you in half."
  </p><p>
  Vin took a step forward, and instantly Rio went for his gun. Before his hand
  had gotten halfway there, however, two shots were fired, and Rio slumped
  to the floor holding his bleeding arm and cursing in Spanish.
  </p><p>
  Vin held up his smoking Winchester and shook his head. "Sorry, mister, but
  your mama should have taught you not to talk back to people."
  </p><p>
  Jake and Curt both stared, speechless. Jake started to rise, his hand on
  his gun belt, but stopped as he heard a loud click to his right. All heads
  turned to see Chris, who had stood up and was giving Jake and Curt his best
  soul-drilling glare from behind his cocked gun.
  </p><p>
  "You sonsabitches ruined my nap." Chris growled as he closed one eye and
  aimed. "Now I'm cranky. Please give me an excuse to shoot you."
  </p><p>
  Buck couldn't hide his grin when both men paled visibly and held their hands
  up. Uncocking his gun in a slow, theatrical manner, Chris holstered it and
  left the table, heading for the door.
  </p><p>
  "Throw 'em in the jail," He grumbled to Buck on his way out. "JD'll have
  to take care of 'em when he gets back."
  </p><p>
  "Where is that boy, anyhow?" Vin asked philosophically as he leaned down
  and pulled Cortez' gun out of his holster.
  </p><p>
  "Who knows." Buck groused as he wiped the sweat off his forehead and glanced
  at Chris, who had paused in the doorway to pull out his bandana and mop his
  face. "Sparkin' Miss Wells, I suspect. Said he'd be back last night. Must
  be having a real good time." Buck winked at Chris, who shook his head as
  he stuffed the sweaty bandana in his back pocket.
  </p><p>
  "Huh." Vin said, then heard an odd noise. He realized that it was Rio, who
  was laughing softly, and stood back. "Somethin' funny?"
  </p><p>
  "Your sheriff." Rio's eyes glittered maliciously as he grinned at Vin from
  his seat on the floor.
  </p><p>
  "What about him?" Vin asked, his calm tone belying the knot he suddenly felt
  in his stomach. He felt Buck come up behind him.
  </p><p>
  Rio continued to chuckle, and despite the blood oozing from his wounded arm
  looked almost exultant. "Let me walk out of here and I'll tell you."
  </p><p>
  Buck took another step forward, trying to push past Vin, but the buffalo
  hunter held him back as Chris left the doorway and slowly approached where
  Rio sat. He didn't look at Rio, however, but at the two men cowering behind
  the table, their hands still raised.
  </p><p>
  "You fellas know what he's talkin' about?" Chris asked conversationally.
  </p><p>
  Rio turned and glared at them, and both men shook their heads rapidly, apparently
  more frightened of their leader than Chris.
  </p><p>
  Chris tilted his head, his blue eyes shining like brittle glass. "All right."
  He said in the same kind, gentle tones, and mildly grabbed the table and
  turned it over with a horrific crash.
  </p><p>
  Jake jumped out of his chair and landed on the floor, covering his head at
  the sudden noise. Curt remained seated, but only because Chris had lunged
  forward and grabbed his collar. Buck leaped forward a second later, and gripped
  Jake by his hair to hold him still.
  </p><p>
  "It's too damn hot for this," Chris hissed as he pulled his gun out again,
  "So I'm gonna make it short because I'm tired, and I'm thirsty, and I got
  a goddamn short fuse today." He cocked the gun and jammed it into Curt's
  temple. "Talk or I'll blow your head off."
  </p><p>
  Curt's eyes widened. "It wasn't my idea! Rio wanted his horse!"
  </p><p>
  Chris throttled him a little. "You're not telling me anything. So long."
  He pressed the gun a little harder.
  </p><p>
  "He's out in the desert!" Curt yelped.
  </p><p>
  Chris blinked, and his gun hand jerked back reflexively.
  </p><p>
  Curt started talking very fast. "Rio was kicking his horse, and the kid wanted
  him to stop it - "
  </p><p>
  "So I knocked the little bastard out and tried to take his horse." Rio finished
  laconically from the floor. "It's a cruel world, isn't it?"
  </p><p>
  Chris let go of Curt, who slumped against the wall, and looked at Buck. Buck
  gave Jake a menacing glare and tightened the hold on his hair. "Where'd you
  leave him?" he asked in husky, urgent tones.
  </p><p>
  "Ow!" Curt grimaced. "Near the Junction Pass. But that was last night, he
  won't be there any more!"
  </p><p>
  Buck let go of Curt's hair and looked at Chris, alarm in his brown eyes.
  </p><p>
  Vin said what they were all thinking. "That's in the middle of nowhere. There
  ain't no shade out that way, and no water neither."
  </p><p>
  "Isn't that too bad?" Rio trilled. "Your little friend's probably been wandering
  around out there most of today, and it's such a hot, sunny day too. Reckon
  he'll be going down with the sunstroke soon, unless he's dead alread - "
  </p><p>
  Buck kicked him then, a swift vicious kick in the back, then another one,
  and Rio yelled out and rolled forward. Vin caught him and hauled him up as
  Buck almost ran past him to the saloon door.
  </p><p>
  "Get the others!" Chris called to Buck's back, "Fill every canteen you can
  find. We'll join you in five minutes."
  </p><p>
  Chris turned his eyes to the two men cringing behind him, and with an
  inarticulate snarl grabbed them both and along with Vin began pulling them
  all toward the jail.
  </p><p>
  "You better pray we find JD in time." Chris snarled as he dragged his prisoners
  out.
  </p><p>
  "Or you'll what?" Rio Cortez sneered mockingly as they reached the doors.
  </p><p>
  In a blur, Chris let go of Curt and Jake and jumped at Rio, ripping him out
  of Vin's grasp and slamming him against the saloon's doorway. Rio's bravado
  shattered in the harsh light of Chris' white-hot stare, and he looked at
  Chris with naked fear.
  </p><p>
  "Or I will skin you alive, mister." Chris spat venomously, his eyes murderous
  slits in the bright glare of the afternoon sun. "Or I will skin. You. Alive."
  </p><p>
  JD stumbled along the simmering landscape, fell, got up, and fell again.
  </p><p>
  His vest was gone; his sleeves were unbuttoned and dangled from his wrists;
  and somehow he'd lost his hat. His body screamed for water and shade, and
  as the universe whipped around him JD knew there wasn't going to be any,
  ever.
  </p><p>
  Panting, he rose to his knees, fighting against the overwhelming nausea that
  was racking his slight frame. He clutched his stomach as the nausea returned,
  worse this time, and looked in desperation around him, but nothing looked
  familiar anymore, just rocks and shrubs and heat, all-consuming, blazing
  heat that was burning him from the inside out.
  </p><p>
  His stomach lurched, and JD bent forward and retched weakly onto the desert
  floor, stars dancing in front of his eyes. He'd thrown up a few times, and
  now it was just hacking, and as his heart pounded in his ears JD screwed
  his eyes shut and curled into a tight ball, waiting for the awful spasms
  to subside.
  </p><p>
  They did, but then he realized he was too weak to get up. You've got to,
  he thought, what about Casey? But moving was so hard, everything was hard
  and hot and it hurt, his face felt as if was made of live coals, and his
  hands were so burnt he couldn't stand to touch anything. I'm going to die
  out here, JD thought, and fought against the panic that swelled through him
  and cramped his insides once again. It was hard to think at all; several
  times he'd blinked to find himself staggering aimlessly, unaware of how he'd
  gotten there, and now as he lay gasping on the fiery desert floor he felt
  himself falling, upward it seemed, and JD struggled to pull himself from
  the heaviness that was threatening to pin him to that spot forever. No, he
  thought, the only thing he could think as he slowly, painfully heaved himself
  off of the ground, I've got to keep going. And he took a few more jerking
  steps.
  </p><p>
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